President Joe Biden has received a framework for crypto assets from the U.S. Treasury Department, fulfilling the requirement set forth in the executive order on cryptocurrency that the president issued in March.
U.S. Treasury Secretary gives Biden the Crypto Framework
A fact sheet titled “Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets” was released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday.
The President’s executive order on ensuring responsible development of digital assets directs the Secretary of the Treasury to deliver to Vice President Joe Biden “a framework for interagency engagement with foreign counterparts and in international fora.” On March 9, Biden issued an executive order regulating cryptocurrency.
According to the framework, the United States and its allies abroad must work together to develop global standards for the regulation of cryptoassets. According to the Treasury:
Arbitrage opportunities are made possible by uneven regulation, oversight, and compliance across jurisdictions, which also increases risks to financial stability and the protection of consumers, investors, businesses, and markets.
The department added that the investigation of illicit digital asset transaction flows that frequently cross international borders, such as in ransomware payments and other cybercrime-related money laundering, is hampered by inadequate anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulation, supervision, and enforcement by other nations.
The Treasury went on to say that the United States must collaborate with other nations and take the lead in discussions about digital payment architectures and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
The Treasury stated that such international efforts “should continue to address the full range of issues and challenges raised by digital assets, including financial stability; consumer and investor protection; business risks; and money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing, sanctions evasion, and other illicit activities.”
Key international engagements for the United States are listed in the fact sheet, including those with the G7 and G20 nations, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The World Bank, and other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs).
The framework’s goals are to ensure that America’s fundamental democratic principles are upheld, that consumers, investors, and businesses are protected, that appropriate global financial system connectivity and platform and architecture interoperability are preserved, and that the safety and soundness of the international monetary system and the global financial system are maintained, according to the Treasury.
